Eventual Battery Replacement

[Keepfiring]

Looking waaay down the road, I'm trying to figure out if the sealed battery is going to bite me eventually. I'm not interested in carrying a spare battery around to swap out with daily use, like it seems most people who wince at the sealed in battery are. My problem is that I've never gotten 2 years of useful battery life out of any of my phones - at about a year or a year and a half, the original battery stops lasting me an entire day and it's time to get a replacement. Recently did so for my original Droid and batt life is back to normal, at the cost of a mere $4.

Anyway, the question - how much of a pain is it going to be to have the battery replaced eventually on this thing? I talked to a rep at one Verizon store and he said no problem, bring it in to one of the corporate stores and they'll take care of it. A rep at another store said I'd need to buy the $7/month insurance plan ($168 over the course of a 2 year contract) otherwise battery replacement would cost me ~$200. Anybody have any solid info or thoughts on this?

 

[Stevessvt]

Heres a tear down of the RAZR, they say the battery appears to be replaceable, and not hard soldered in.
Motorola Droid RAZR Teardown - iFixit

 

[jpcalhoun]

Looking waaay down the road, I'm trying to figure out if the sealed battery is going to bite me eventually. I'm not interested in carrying a spare battery around to swap out with daily use, like it seems most people who wince at the sealed in battery are. My problem is that I've never gotten 2 years of useful battery life out of any of my phones - at about a year or a year and a half, the original battery stops lasting me an entire day and it's time to get a replacement. Recently did so for my original Droid and batt life is back to normal, at the cost of a mere $4.

Anyway, the question - how much of a pain is it going to be to have the battery replaced eventually on this thing? I talked to a rep at one Verizon store and he said no problem, bring it in to one of the corporate stores and they'll take care of it. A rep at another store said I'd need to buy the $7/month insurance plan ($168 over the course of a 2 year contract) otherwise battery replacement would cost me ~$200. Anybody have any solid info or thoughts on this?

Not going to worry about the battery. I venture to say that by the time the battery fails we'll all be looking at the "next big thing" anyway:icon_ banana:

 

[CharlieJ]

The battery is a 3.8V, 1750mAh, Motorola EB20. From the tear down, it looks like experienced DIYers will be able to change the battery with NO problem. After snapping the case apart, the battery is the first thing that comes out. Shhhhuuusssh. Not to worry.

http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/t5Hyy2km1AB5d1GG.medium
Source: iFixIt.net

 

[rza49311]

The battery is a 3.8V, 1750mAh, Motorola EB20. From the tear down, it looks like experienced DIYers will be able to change the battery with NO problem. After snapping the case apart, the battery is the first thing that comes out. Shhhhuuusssh. Not to worry.

http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/t5Hyy2km1AB5d1GG.medium
Source: iFixIt.net

[h=3]Step 20 http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Droid-RAZR-Teardown/7048/3#s29954[/h]

• 
  Motorola Droid RAZR Repairability Score: 4 out of 10(10 is easiest to repair).
  
  • 
    Once the battery and motherboard are within reach, replacement is easy—no soldering required.
    
  • 
    The "non-serviceable" back was a bit of a pain to remove.
    
  • 
    The front panel is adhered to the AMOLED display, so they must be replaced as one expensive unit.
    
  • 
    All plastic frames and casing proved to be incredibly tedious to remove, and felt like they would break at any moment.
    
  • 
    There are copious amounts of adhesive holding the phone together.

 

[Keepfiring]

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like its not a snap but not so bad that I'd have to deal with a battery in need of retirement or fork over stupid money to have the Verizon techs replace it.

 

[RETG]

If you are looking at extended warranty, just make sure it covers a battery replacement. I just went through that on my laptop. Have the extended warranty, but it did not cover a failed battery at 14 months. The battery was only covered under the original 12 month factory warranty. And the extended warranty is from the manufacturer. So beware and read the fine print.

However, it does look quite simple to replace and even a Verizon factory store should not charge much more than 25 bucks plus the battery. I do say SHOULD, but who knows.

 

[Androidatic]

If you have the extended warranty through Verizon and the battery craps out, just make sure the phone takes a nasty fall. THAT is covered under the regular coverage.

 

[RETG]

If you have the extended warranty through Verizon and the battery craps out, just make sure the phone takes a nasty fall. THAT is covered under the regular coverage.

Intentional damage, than in insurance claim, is that considered fraud? But that seems to be pretty normal in this day and age, for people who do not like to take responsibility for their actions. (Action in this case is purchasing a phone with battery that MIGHT require a tech to replace!)

And I might add, extended warranties usually do not cover damage; they normally cover defects. I do believe you are talking about damage insurance.